How to Create a MLA Works Cited Page (Bibliography)

When you use other peoples writings and ideas, you must give them credit for their work otherwise you are
plagiarizing. The Works Cited page is an alphabetical listing of all actual sources cited in the paper.
Your Works Cited page should be a stand-alone page; it should NEVER appear on the same page as your actual
essay! It is the very last page of your paper. The following example shows what your paper should look like.
Refer to the descriptions of each below the example.
1 inch
margins

1/2 inch margin on Header only

Finnigan 6
Alphabetize sources

Works Cited

Center the title

Human Cloning: One shouldnt do this. CNN.com/HEALTH. Cable News Network

LP,LLLP., 27 December 2002. Web. 6 May 2010.
<http://archives.cnn.com/2002/HEALTH/12/27/clones.ethics.legal/index.html>.
Human Cloning: The debate. BBC News Online: Sci/Tech. BBC News, 25 June 1999.
Web. 6 May 2010. <http://news bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/377420.stm>.

Required
information
and format
for each
entry (use
online
format help)

Klotzko, Arlene J. Therell never be another you. guardian.co.uk. The Guardian, 22 Jan.
Hanging
Indents:
First line of
each
entry is at
the left
margin;
extra lines
are
indented
12''.

2004. Web. 6 May 2010.

<http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2004/jan/22/science.highereducation1>.
Strode, Tom. Society unprepared for problems of human cloning, scholars say. Baptist
May 2010. <http://bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=3203>.

Title Your title is centered: do not create extra spaces around it, and do not use a different type or size of font.
It should be one inch from the top of the page.
Spacing Double space the entire page, including the title and all entries.
Alphabetize The sources according to the authors last name (or title if there is no author).
Hanging Indents The first line of each entry is at the left margin; extra lines are indented 12''. DO NOT
NUMBER YOUR SOURCES.
Header: Continue to include your header in the upper right corner, indicating your name and the page
number.
Entry Information, Punctuation, and Format The information and arrangement of the information must follow
MLA formatting. Use the guide on the next page for help on specific formatting.
Each work cited in parentheses in the research paper must be listed on the Works Cited page.

How to Format Specific Sources

Books
Authors Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication.
Medium of Publication.
Single Author
Foucault, Michel. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. New York: Vintage, 1979. Print.
Two or Three Authors
Guffey, Mary Ellen, and Richard Almonte. Essentials of Business Communication. Toronto:
Thomson Nelson, 2006. Print.
Four or More Authors
Wysocki, Ann Frances, et al. Writing New Media: Theory and Applications for Expanding the
Teaching of Composition. Logan: Utah State UP, 2004. Print.
Journals
Authors Last Name, First Name. Title of Article. Title of Journal Volume.Issue (Year): Pages.
Medium of Publication.
Bagchi, Alaknanda. Conflicting Nationalisms: The Voice of the Subaltern in Mahasweta Devis
BashaiTudu. Tulsa Studies in Womens Literature 15.1 (1996): 41-50. Print.
Periodicals
Authors Last Name, First Name. Title of Article. Title of Periodical Day Month Year Published:
Pages. Medium of Publication.
Newspaper
Brubaker, Bill. New Health Center Targets Countys Uninsured Patients. Washington Post 24 May
2007: LZ01. Print.
Magazine
Poniewozik, James. TV Makes a Too-Close Call. Time 20 Nov. 2000: 70-71. Print.
Online Database (i.e. EBSCO)
Follow format for Books, Periodicals or Journals. Name of Database. Medium of Publication. Date
of Access.

Cosgrove, Denis E. John Ruskin and the Geographical Imagination. Geographical Review
69.1(1979): 43-62. JSTOR. Web. 10 Aug. 2007.
Websites
Editor, Author, or Compilers Last Name, First Name. Article Name. Name of Site. Name of
Institution or Organization Affiliated with Site (Sponsor or Publisher), Date of Resource
Creation. Medium of Publication. Date of Access.
Office on Smoking and Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.
Smoking and Tobacco Use. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 29 May 2008. Web. 18
June 2009.
Utah Mine Rescue Funeral. CNN.com. Cable News Network, 21 Aug. 2007. Web. 15 May 2008.
Note: This provides examples of commonly used sources. If you are using a source that is not
included on this handout, please refer to the OWL Purdue Online Writing Lab website for help:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/
Online MLA Format Links These web sites will create an MLA style Works Cited entry for you. All you do is fill
in the information you have about your source. Select the site that you like best.
Citation Builder:
http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/citationbuilder/

Easy Bib:
http://www.easybib.com/